Tag Archives: preto e branco

EN/ After camping at Groezrock Festival in Meerhout (see post here), we went back to Brussels to get to know the city. Most of the colour photos were taken with a phone as I explained that I only took my Pentax with B&W film for the festival.

We arrived at noon and stayed at Meininger Hotel which was really nice and good. We were all covered by dust and tired, took a shower and had a nap before going out. When we went out it was already evening and getting dark, so we initially went for dinner at he Chat Noir Restaurant, one of those places where the owner takes orders, cooks and interacts with customers. We had the best glass bottle Coke there, very, very cold and delicious food.

EN/ Then after walking around we got to the place I consider my favourite, The Grand Place, which is the main square in Brussels with beautiful old classical buildings which are all lit at night. It looks different during the day, but equally amazing. In Brussels it was quite warm and sunny, I even had to buy myself shorts!

EN/ One of the things I most liked were the gardens full of flowers and colours and really neat and cleaned. The fact that they can speak either French or Dutch made thing both interesting and confusing at the same time. As we had only 1 full day there, we explored the main touristic sites after we got to know the area around the Hotel.

EN/ Review: Carol Hudson and her Photographic Work, “From Him, To Him” from The Power of Possessions

My former tutor Carol Hudson’s works on the project “The Power of Possessions” which is formed by a variety of still life photography sets divided in clothing, personal objects and between others, a set of two prints of two pile of letters, which is the main work I will analyse here.

The photographer started the project after her late husband’s death, as a way to get over the period of mourning; she concentrated on “the leftovers scraps of ordinary life” as she describes her husband’s belongings.

The first impression this piece of work attracts is the fact that the photographs are displayed in pair, combining two piles of papers creating an impact in relation to the quantity, which immediately makes me think it has been accumulated and stored. The use of contrasty black and white film reinforces their tones and texture against a black background, attracting attention to the fact that they are opened, causing the viewer curiosity about their content. The division into two different piles displayed together arises the mysterious mood these photographs create in relation to its context.

Looking at the artist’s statement, part of the mystery is solved; these two stacks of letters were found in the attic. One stack comprises letters ‘to him’, the other stack letters ‘from him’. The photographer wrote: “The dates relate to a period of time when a relationship was irrevocably breaking down, a time before I knew my husband. I was torn between a compulsion to read the letters and the fear of what I might discover. In photographing them, I sought hints of the silent, tactile pleasures and heartaches of letter writing and receiving. I didn’t need to read them. I captured the possibility and my choice.”

I find this piece of work intriguing mostly because the artist herself is not aware of the letter’s content, just like the viewers, as well as I can see her conflict in relation to these letters and object that are under her possession, but are not her own. The photographer overcomes a difficult period in her life and makes the hard decision to get rid of some objects and at the same time respect her late husband’s privacy in relation to the letters.